Indice dei contenuti per 2021-11-25 in Mercury

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za A METRO police officer who graduated yesterday with a Master’s degree in child care and protection, said his passion for children’s rights motivated him to pursue the postgraduate degree. Captain Veli NP Ndlovu, 38, a Durban metro police officer, graduated at a virtual graduation ceremony held by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Ndlovu, who is also a qualified social worker, said he was with the SAPS for 12 years and worked as a social worker before joining the metro police two years ago. “When I worked for the SAPS I got a lot of compliments from members of the public as I seemed to be doing a lot of cases that involved children. It was then that I decided to do more for children, and I enrolled for…

DHAYALAN MOODLEY | Mobeni Heights It is time that we, as taxpayers, say enough is enough. We have to fight back. The announcement of a 7% hike in the retail price bringing fuel close to R20 a litre is worrying. Perhaps the government should consider scrapping the Road Accident Fund levy. With the rand relatively low, causing jitters, and the Covid-19 pandemic affecting consumers, we are sitting on a time bomb. For hard-pressed consumers, a weaker rand spells inflation, further increases at fuel pumps, escalating and unaffordable price increases in food and basic necessities and other negative consequences. This triggers a dangerous spiral effect, causing more financial hardships, factory and business closures and retrenchments. Continuing protests and strikes across the country can be equated to a barometer…

FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg The ANC Titanic has struck The Metro iceberg and is treading water rapidly. Captain Cyril Ramaphosa is unable to steer his ship to safety. We are now entering uncharted waters: one-party dominance is over, a coalition will be forced to govern the country under the unfolding, disturbing scenario. We cannot afford political instability in a perilous atmosphere. Instability is regarded as a serious malaise harmful to economic performance. It is the combined will of all political parties that must prevail if sanity and political order are to be maintained. Provocative and obscene profanities must not be allowed in urgent negotiations, as our nation lurches from crisis to crisis. Who on earth could govern in such precarious political circumstances? It must also be stated that…

TODAY is Thanksgiving in the US. Millions of Americans “go home” to family and most will enjoy a late lunch much like many South African families do on Christmas Day. Essentially it is a time of expressing gratitude and a time to be with loved ones. Which brings me to my list: I am deeply grateful to you, my readers in South Africa, for your ongoing readership of this column that has been published far longer than I thought possible. This column will be 21 years old in March. Thank you so much for your letters and affirmations and the interesting life issues you choose to share with me. I am deeply grateful to be a dad and for two sons who are kind, loving and hard-working. I am deeply…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his disappointment with the ANC’s poor support during the local government elections. The governing party’s support dropped to just over 45% at the polls, compared with 53.91% in the 2016 municipal elections. Speaking during the visit by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Union Buildings on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the ANC’s poor performance was a setback for the party. “What is unfolding is how democracy works. This is the footsteps, if you like, of democracy and we’ve seen it play out throughout the country. “It is disappointing for the ANC, but we should accept the clear message of our people on the ANC. We’ve taken heed and listened and this for us is a big setback, but it is also a big…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za HOSPITAL visits in public hospitals will remain banned despite the country being under level 1 lockdown. Health Minister Joe Phaahla has insisted that the status quo will remain because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Families were prohibited from visiting their ailing and injured loved ones after Covid-19 hit the country earlier last year. Replying to a written question in Parliament, Phaahla said the prohibition of visits remained a precautionary measure. “The Department of Health is taking serious precautionary measures by prohibiting hospital visits by the families of the patients that are admitted within the facilities because the threat of Covid-19 is still real,” he said. “While the country is at alert level 1, we remain concerned about the possible increase in infections, especially because there are still a…

Three men who killed a retired University of KwaZulu-Natal art professor in his Hilton, Pietermaritzburg, home in April this year have been jailed for 25 years. Kwanele Thomas Ntuli, 29, Kwazi Kunene, 29, Simphiwe Charles Ngcoya, 36, all from Sweetwaters in Pietermaritzburg, pleaded guilty to the murder of Francois Jean Hugo. The 83-year-old retired professor from the art faculty at UKZN was murdered at his Walters Road, home somewhere between April 27 and April 28 this year. The trio pleaded guilty to murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and housebreaking with intent to commit robbery in the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday before Judge Rishi Seegobin. They told the court they had heard about an “old white man” who lived alone and never worried to lock his doors. They decided to rob…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za RETIRED Supreme Court of Appeal Justice Willie Seriti and ex-Free State Judge President Hendrick Musi have hauled the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to court to challenge the law declaring them judges long after retirement. Judges Seriti and Musi have filed papers in the North Gauteng High Court questioning the statutes that still hold them as judges even after they have retired. The JSC, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola and President Cyril Ramaphosa are cited as respondents along with Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, which have lodged misconduct complaints against the two retired judges for the manner in which they handled the arms deal commission of inquiry. Their report’s findings were later set aside by the North Gauteng High Court in August 2019. “This application…

Sweden’s Prime Minister-elect Magdalena Andersson yesteday tendered her resignation just hours after her appointment by parliament, after her budget failed to pass and the junior Greens Party left the coalition government. “There is a constitutional practice that a coalition government should resign when one party quits,” Andersson, a Social Democrat, said. In a turbuent sequence of events, Andersson became the first woman elected as prime minister in Sweden after clinching a deal with the Left Party to raise pensions in exchange for its backing in yesterday’s vote. But the small Centre Party then withdrew its support for Andersson’s budget, due to the concessions made to the Left, leaving her budget with insufficient votes to pass in parliament. Parliament instead adopted a budget presented by the conservative Moderates, Christian Democrats and…

Versailles: A French court yesterday gave Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema a one-year suspended sentence for complicity in a bid to blackmail his former France teammate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape. The sentence was tougher than that sought by prosecutors against the 33-year-old player over the 2015 extortion attempt, which led to Benzema being cast out of the France team for five-and-a-half years. Benzema was not in court in Versailles for the verdict, which comes hours before Real Madrid take on Sheriff Tiraspol in a Champions League game in Moldova. His defence team announced plans for an appeal. Speaking to reporters, one of his lawyers, Sylvain Cormier, said he was “quite stunned by the ruling”. The prosecution had called for Benzema, to be given a 10-month suspended sentence. The…

Oslo: Norway summoned Qatar’s ambassador yesterday to discuss the arrests of two Norwegian TV reporters in Doha where they were covering preparations and controversies around the 2022 World Cup. Their employer, public broadcaster NRK, said Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani were arrested without explanation on Sunday, before their flight home. The detention came exactly a year ahead of the opening of the tournament. They were freed without charge after around 30 hours and landed in Oslo yesterday morning.…

MIKE GREENAWAY THE Sharks have confirmed that they will play a friendly against English giants Saracens in London on 15 January as relations between the two franchises grow ever closer. Since the buy-in at the Sharks by the American consortium MVM Holdings, a partnership of sorts with Saracens has been a top priority, with the aim of growing the Sharks in the international market. The English clubs have their own Premiership that they contest while the Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Italian teams play in the United Rugby Championship along with the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions, so the Durban-based team will use a travel opportunity in early January — they play Benetton on 8 January — to play Saracens in a friendly fixture. The Sharks and Saracens have forged…

Thami Magubane and Sihle Mavuso SMALLER parties have put the ANC in eThekwini Municipality on notice, saying it had better deliver good governance and services because if it fails, it could be removed from its position at any moment. The parties that carried the day for the ANC at the municipal council meeting to elect new leaders yesterday said their votes came with conditions and positions. With narrow margins at play, Mxolisi Kaunda retained his position as mayor of the city, while Abantu Batho Congress president Philani Mavundla took the deputy mayor’s position. Kaunda beat the DA’s Nicole Graham, while Mavundla defeated the IFP’s Mdu Nkosi. The smaller parties yesterday described the new leadership of the municipality as a government of “national unity” that would guarantee accountability and improve service…

A spacecraft that must ultimately crash to succeed was launched this week from California on a Nasa mission to demonstrate the world’s first planetary defence system, designed to deflect an asteroid from a potential doomsday collision with Earth. The Dart spacecraft soared into the night sky from Vandenberg US Space Force Base, about 240km north-west of Los Angeles, carried aboard a SpaceX-owned Falcon 9 rocket. The launch was shown live on Nasa TV. The Dart payload, about the size of a vending machine, was released from the booster a few minutes after launch to begin a10-month journey into space, some 11 million kilometres from Earth. Moments later the rocket’s reusable lower stage flew back to Earth and safely touched down on a landing vessel floating in the Pacific in what…

BEVERLEY T MUTANDIRO | UK I STRUGGLE to understand why the president of Zimbabwe is still leading the country into deeper depths of poverty and misery while the Zimbabweans themselves remain tongue-tied about the shocking deterioration of the country that has reached unacceptable levels. The beleaguered president has failed to communicate his values openly with the people he leads. He should have created an atmosphere of certainty and trust, listened to the concerns of the citizens and positively improved the standard of living. This president has become a thorn in the flesh for Zimbabweans who are yearning for better standards of living and have hope for the future of their children. He lacks dedication, commitment and does not have a solid direction where he wants to take the…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban I voted for the ANC during the first few years of freedom, then decided instead to go for picnics and watch movies, after I realised that the crocodile of corruption had also gripped this organisation by this monster’s 80-toothed mouth. But I never lost my fascination and respect for what it initially stood for – democracy, religious freedom, anti- racism, anti-sexism, anti-apartheid and the rest of it. Now comes the gloomy rub, the aftermath of water that went bad in the tub. Whereas the ANC often challenged countries like Israel for its dubious racist policies and land-grabbing greed, the US for its Wild West gun-slinging craze of white cowboys using black slaves as targets, its careful check on our own extracurricular rapist and racist…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za POLITICAL analysts are predicting a bumpy ride for the IFP in the KwaZulu- Natal municipalities that it is set to run with support from the EFF. The IFP reached an agreement in which the EFF got the positions of deputy mayor in Dannhauser, Nongoma and uMhlathuze municipalities. The IFP arrangement with the EFF came about after the party’s deal with the ANC on hung municipalities fell apart. According to that deal, it was proposed that where the IFP had the most seats, it would form the municipal government. Reciprocally, where the ANC had the most seats, despite no outright majority, the ANC would form the municipal government. However, the deal fell apart on Monday which led to the IFP approaching other opposition parties. EFF KZN chairperson Vusi…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has shelved plans for building new courts, due to its budget being cut. This was one of the measures the department took to cope with the cut, according to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola. He was replying to written questions in Parliament by the IFP’s Christian Themba Msimang. Msimang asked Lamola what measures his department had implemented “to reconcile the recent budget cuts with the key cost drivers of his department”. Msimang also wanted to know how the measures were likely to affect services. The department’s budget for the current financial year was cut by R194 million. A host of other departments and public institutions also had their budgets reduced. Lamola said that as part of the measures…

Two people were injured when armed men tried to rob the Brighton Beach post office on the Bluff yesterday. Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said it was alleged that four men entered the post office on Bluff Road at 9am. “They could not get any cash. They took a cellphone and fled the scene in a getaway vehicle,” she said. Gwala said no shots were fired and the matter was being investigated. Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics Medical Services said two people were injured. “ALS Paramedics Medical Services arrived at the scene to find that two people had sustained minor to moderate injuries,” he said. Jamieson said the patients were stabilised at the scene and then taken to hospital. A case of business robbery is being investigated by the…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za AS the world gears up to commence the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign, civil society organisations lamented that South Africa is still one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women. The 16 Days of Activism campaign starts today on International Day of No Violence against Women and ends on December 10, International Human Rights Day. In line with the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, non-profit organisation Sonke Gender Justice said it wanted to see rapid and sustained change in the harmful cultural norms and patriarchal attitudes that drive gender inequality and human rights violations. “True gender equality will be impossible to achieve if we all continue to believe that girls and boys, women and men should behave…

Beijing was buzzing as we networked in hotel lobbies and arranged for seminars. “Trust the Chinese to pull off something as huge as this,” a colleague said to me. It was Focac 2018 and it was China’s chance to host the heads of state summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping was hosting every single African head of state, except for eSwatini, in Beijing. With more than a thousand African representatives present in Beijing from over 600 African enterprises, Africans were networking with fellow Africans seeking investments in Africa, thanks to the Chinese. The Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac) meets tri-annually. This year the event will be held in Dakar, Senegal, but, as with the first five meetings, it will be at ministerial level. Johannesburg 2015 was the first time that a…

About 2.6 million people, or nearly 22% of the population, in 66 out of 74 districts across Somalia are affected by worsening drought, the UN humanitarian agency said yesterday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) said nearly 113 000 people were displaced by drought across Somalia. “The lack of access to safe and potable water coupled with poor hygiene and sanitation facilities have heightened the overall risk of water-borne diseases, with an increase in suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea/cholera and measles,” Unocha said in its latest update on the drought situation. Somalia is experiencing a worsening drought following three consecutive failed rainy seasons, and is at risk of a fourth one in a row in 2021, according to the UN. The Somali government on Tuesday…

In Latin America, a region adrift in mad political swings and managed chaos, the long, thin nation that Henry Kissinger once dismissed as a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica was lucky to be politically dull. Neighbouring Peruvians went through five presidents in three years, ultimately flipping from a Wall Street banker to a radical leftist schoolteacher. Brazilian voters dizzyingly spun from the Workers’ Party to the Trumpian fringes of Jair Bolsonaro. But Chileans, living in one of Latin America’s most successful nations, kept a relatively even keel, leaping from staid and serious European-style socialists to a right-wing centrist who in June came out in favour of same-sex marriage. Chile is even keeled no more. A country long held up globally as a free market model run by moderates…

LONDON: Albert Einstein’s manuscript on the theory of relativity, written together with his colleague Michele Besso, was sold at the Christie’s auction in Paris for €13.3 million (around R236m), Christie’s auction house said. The manuscript is 54 pages long and was written between June 1913 and early 1914. According to Christie’s, it is “often described as the most beautiful theory in physics, and one of the single most important ideas in modern science”. It is one of the two only surviving manuscripts written by the physicist and provides an insight into how the scientist’s mind worked, the auction house said.…

ESHLIN VEDAN INSPIRED substitutions, red cards and an own goal contrived and dished out an entertaining Premiership contest between Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu yesterday. Super subs Bongi Ntuli and Andre de Jong combined well deep into the second half to earn their side a 1-1 draw against an in-form Chiefs at FNB Stadium, a game in which both teams were reduced to 10 men. Amakhosi opened the scoring in the 20th minute after Keagan Buchanan suffered the misfortune of turning the ball into his own net following a cross from Chiefs’ Keagan Dolly. AmaZulu went on to equalise in the 77th minute as Ntuli used his lethal finishing ability to successfully turn in a cross which was sent into his path by New Zealand international De Jong. Possession was evenly…

PREVIOUSLY recognised as the Riverside Bowling Club, Durban Collegians Bowling Club was established in 1982 and is situated in scenic surrounds on the banks of the Mgeni River in the Blue Lagoon precinct. Durban Collegians is a community-based club and has earned a well deserved reputation for friendliness and for the quality of their three playing surfaces. With a focus on encouraging new members to the sport the club hosts social bowling events at 3pm every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, when non-affiliated enthusiasts (who have tagged themselves The Hill Billies) enjoy a competitive get-together on the greens. This initiative has proved successful for the club as many of the social bowlers, drawn by the competition that the sport presents, have affiliated to the club and now participate in…

IT WAS hardly surprising that Gareth Southgate was handed a new contract to manage England this week. Since taking charge of the Three Lions in 2016, Southgate has done a fine job. He inherited a team that was plagued by controversy following allegations of malpractice, which led to Sam Allardyce lasting just one game at the helm. Since Southgate took charge, the England team have gradually improved. They reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup to the surprise of many before reaching the final of the European Championships earlier this year. England is one national football team that, perhaps rightfully so, has a tag of being perennially over-hyped. They have only won one major trophy in their history, the 1966 World Cup, and they go into every tournament as…

BAFANA MODISA | Durban SOUTH African Friends of Israel (SAFI) welcomes the government’s support of attendance in Eilat, Israel, of a South African competitor (male) at the 13th Esports World Championships 2021. Why, then, is the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, opposing Miss South Africa’s attendance at the Miss Universe pageant in the very same city in a few weeks? Is this hypocrisy? Sexism? Or did he just not know? E-sports are accredited by the South African government as a sport for which players are eligible to represent South Africa and obtain national Protea colours. Mthethwa’s hypocritical stance on Israel has been widely derided. The South African government maintains an embassy in Tel Aviv and works with Israel on a number of issues, yet the…

BRUCE CHINNIA | Phoenix SPORT plays a vital role in our lives. It is one activity that helps us in maintaining a proper physique, a positive mentality and a healthy body. It is beneficial for a child’s mental health and well-being and it strengthens muscles and bones. Playing sport and interacting with others helps us learn about team work, resilience, leadership, accountability, respect and patience. The eThekwini Municipality has sold some playgrounds to developers. These developers are building houses on the land. It’s okay if they build houses in open spaces, but not our playgrounds. I suggest a sports stadium being built in Phoenix, which is one of the biggest multiracial townships in Durban. A sports stadium was built in Chatsworth, so why not Phoenix?…

| J W Schopf IT COULD happen only in America. What kind of property owner could have a name like Gunther VI? How pretentious can you get? Okay, Gunther VI is a descendant of Gunther III, according to Associated Press. Gunther III was no slouch. He inherited a multimillion dollar trust from the German Countess Karlotta Liebenstein. He owned the eight-bedroom mansion in Miami, looking down on Biscayne Bay, which Gunther VI eventually inherited. And Gunther VI has now sold the mansion for a whopping $3 million (about R47m). Does he have any regrets? Apparently not. He spends his time playing with a tennis ball on the front lawn of the mansion he has just sold. Yes, Gunther VI is a dog – a German shepherd. When Countess…

Ntombi Nkosi ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za Speculation is mounting about the future of coalitions in Gauteng after the DA clinched the three metros of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Joburg despite there being no formal agreement in place with the parties that helped it into power. However, some analysts believe there is a need for a coalition agreement and that the DA has to share key positions, such as those of Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs), with other parties, to ensure stability. Newly elected City of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams has called for legislation to be amended. “There has to be a coalition agreement in place to guarantee stability in the City of Tshwane and elsewhere. It (negotiations) has been happening for the past two weeks but two weeks is not enough, you…

Zama Ngcoya zama.ngcoya@inl.co.za The Durban University of Technology (DUT) will see a total number of 1 549 students graduating at this year’s 2021 Virtual Summer Graduation ceremony. The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, December 1. The summer graduation ceremony will be officially constituted by DUT chancellor Nonkululeko Nyembezi. The graduation ceremony consists of graduands from both the DUT Durban and Midlands campuses and will see 864 men and 685 women being bestowed their qualifications. In total, 1 380 graduates will obtain their undergraduate qualifications, while 169 will graduate with their post-graduate qualifications across the various faculties. In May this year, 8 399 students graduated during the Autumn Graduation ceremonies at the institution, bringing the 2021 total to over 9 900. According to Alan Khan, senior…

THE fourth wave of Covid-19 infections in Europe presents an ideal opportunity for Africa to put measures in place to minimise the impact when it finally hits the continent. While tightening lockdown levels have helped reduce infections, the impact on the economies of our struggling continent has been devastating. Africa has been presented with a chance to improve its approach in fighting the pandemic. Acting now will put the continent in a better position to avoid reversing the small gains made, particularly in other health crises such as malaria, Ebola and TB. The arrival of the fourth wave is merely a question of when. Scientists tell us that the wave may not be as devastating as previous ones, but the fact is that it will have an impact. One just…

ISTANBUL: Turkish women feel more vulnerable and legally unprotected since Turkey withdrew from a convention that activists argued helped deter male violence, said women’s campaign groups. The landmark Istanbul Convention came into force in 2014 and laid the way for a Europe-wide legal framework to tackle, prevent and prosecute violence against women. Turkey abruptly withdrew in March following a decree by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And though there’s been no detectible surge in violence, rights advocates say that there has been a jump in unexplained deaths. The withdrawal also risked encouraging abusers, campaigners say, with one asking lawyers if they would be released from prison. Conservatives in Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) had claimed the treaty promoted homosexuality and threatened the traditional Turkish family structure, although there was…

WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump has said that the US experienced no threats from either Russia or China under his presidency. “If you look at Russia, Russia was not threatening. When I was there, we were getting along fine with Russia, I sanctioned Russia like nobody had ever sanctioned them. I got along great with President Xi and Putin. That is a good thing, not a bad thing,” Trump said in an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday. He added that China did not fly military aircraft over Taiwan under his presidency,and that the US looks weak under President Joe Biden.…

The Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara was placed under curfew yesterday after protesters attempted to storm the Pacific island nation’s Parliament. Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who had set alight buildings, partly burning down a police station and a hut near the Parliament building, a police spokesperson said. He was unable to confirm whether the protest was a failed attempt to topple Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. “A crowd formed in front of the Parliament, it was a huge crowd,” he said. “They intended to make the prime minister resign, that’s the public speculation, but we’re still investigating the motives. “The important thing is police now have control of the situation and no one is out on the streets.” He said police were unaware of any injuries. Canberra’s official Smart…

WARSAW: Poland should end expulsions of migrants to Belarus, since it shares equal responsibility for the situation at the border with Minsk, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday. “Polish authorities should halt all expulsions to Belarus and stop all abuse by Polish officials of migrants,” HRW said in a report. HRW urged Belarus to prosecute border guards violating migrants’ rights. Human rights activists also called on the EU to pressure Warsaw to allow humanitarian organisations to restricted border areas. Warsaw blames Minsk for the current migration crisis. Belarus rejects all allegations.…